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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/27258973">Conjurer of Lust</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheYuriReviewer/pseuds/TheYuriReviewer'>TheYuriReviewer</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>BURN THE WITCH (Manga)</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>British Political Detriments of the 80s and 90s, Child Abuse, F/F, Kissing, Lesbians, Meta, POV First Person, Theist Satanism, Unreliable Narrator, Voiceover - Freeform, Yuri, lots of cussing, split personality disorder, switching POVs</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>In-Progress</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2020-12-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-07 01:20:41</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Explicit</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>5</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>5,610</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/27258973</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/TheYuriReviewer/pseuds/TheYuriReviewer</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>Noel spirals into a deep transformation in the wake of Cinderella's annihilation. Ninny tries to reconcile. </p><p>Gets darker as it goes. Still fluffy at points.</p><p>Post Manga. Post Movie.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Niihashi Noel/Ninny Spangcole, Ninny Spangcole/Macy Baljure</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>9</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>15</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>1. Prologue</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>Omniscient.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>
  <span>_</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Omniscient</span>
</p><p>
  <span>_</span>
</p><p>
  <span>The nine realms as deigned by Mephisopheles to Faustus.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Out of the deepest circle of Hell, the great Asmodeua looked upon her quarry in the mortal realm, Gaia.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Now overrun by the Heavenly entities of old, Dragons the betweened realm, Purgatorio is where they reside.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Since Ancient times the Witches of great Europa defended their Kinsmen from the invisible beasts.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>They wreaked havoc on the face of humanity but were eventually quelled and some were even domesticated.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>In the great London Metropolis, a Core faction of elite guardians, the Sabers began their recruitment for the witch corp, a new regiment for the newest generation.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Ninny Spangcole, a hot tempered girl, strives to join the Sabers one day.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Her partner, Noel Niihashi, is her exact opposite, stoic and composed in all facets.</span>
</p><p>
  <span>Together they become the founders of the new Corp of Dragonborne Dragon Hunters, </span>
</p><p>
  <span>The Death Gods, Shinigami.</span>
</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0002"><h2>2. A Simple Favor</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>_</p><p>Ninny<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>I stood forward, the office door a seemingly daunting opponent before me now. I was seething.</p><p>I had seen him outside, with her. Not that I cared, (I didn’t, fuck you) but I could see his perverted<br/>
self rising when she embraced him. I figured she was just glad he wasn’t wanted anymore but, the way<br/>
he reacted around her pissed me off.</p><p>That dopy ass stare and his complete ineptness at even the simplest of tasks. Seriously, I’m surprised she didn’t drop him immediately.<br/>
I saw her come in the office earlier, most likely to discuss the Dragonclads role on our next mission. My teeth clenched.</p><p>I’ll reiterate, I cared not for the affection she had for Balgo.</p><p>I just had standards. I had enough self respect for her to recognize when my partner could do eons better.<br/>
_</p><p><em>‘Ya know, I bet you (yeah, you there) get off on this, don’t you? I don’t honestly care, just know I know you’re there, watching me thinking I’m some lovestruck school Tsundere.'</em><br/>
_</p><p>No.<br/>
I didn’t ask for your input. Back off.</p><p>“Fuck him.”</p><p>_</p><p>Noel<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>Ooooooh K. You can let go now. I was just glad you were safe. It’s really awkward to hug for this long anyway. I hold no animosity towards you, or anybody, for that matter. That’s Ni’s job. I’m the straight man to her fiery Oni. She’s probably pissed off right now, as if she were staring at us through the second floor alleyway window.</p><p>
  <em>‘Hmm, STRANGE thoughts to have…’</em>
</p><p>I feel her presence. Before she knows she’s there, even. She feels, riled up. Like a yippy dog. Yet now it fades.</p><p>Of course, we already have Otsushi. Perhaps Ni is more of a cat.<br/>
No, too cliche.</p><p>She’s more of a pufferfish I suppose. So cute, trying to be intimidating, but just a big softy on the inside.<br/>
She’d be more of a petit softy though.</p><p>
  <em>‘I’m sure she’d be like SINnamon and caramel cream, if she ever went that far with me.’</em>
</p><p>Tsk, she probably thinks I have a crush on Balgo.<br/>
Or, she’s suppressed her feelings so much she can’t even have an honest thought to herself anymore.</p><p>_</p><p>Ninny<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>These were really my honest thoughts, no angel above could dispute me otherwise.</p><p>Hell’s honesty hath no bounds. And a woman scorned am I, indeed.</p><p>Their union would bring only the most heinous bedfellows.<br/>
Not on my watch.</p><p>Finally, I busted through the office door, eliciting a squeal from my wrathful entrance.<br/>
A pair of soft assets attached to pink mops smothered me in an instant.</p><p>
  <em>‘Macy, goddammit.’</em>
</p><p>This little minx would never, “Back the fuck off.”</p><p>…oops. My inner thoughts be damned.</p><p>I saw her recoil. The sadness in her eyes was immeasurable. Like a thousand grieving widows.<br/>
I recoiled in turn, but not at her. At myself.</p><p>“Macy, I did not mean that…at ALL.”</p><p>My clarification did little to the quell the onslaught of bawling about to commence. Her eyes watered, heavy with the weight of a thousand thoughts.<br/>
But she never ceased her unending affection, even through her piercing wails.</p><p>“Waaahhhhhh!!! Ninny-chan, I’m sho shorry! I kneeew you haaaated meeeee!”</p><p>Like a child soldier lost, she screamed with a force that would surely shatter everything around her. I tried in vain,<br/>
but her cries became infectious over time.</p><p>I started tearing up. I didn’t really know why. It’s just that…a lump formed in my throat and my body simply acted accordingly.<br/>
I had to end this though. She was only getting louder.</p><p>Last resort, I guess.</p><p>I crashed violently into her, with the intent to topple her over the window side chair.</p><p>_</p><p>Macy<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>She felt as dreamy as I had imagined.<br/>
As evil as I wanted. No heavenly feeling alight. Only sin. Sweet, dark, delicious sin.</p><p>That is, there would be no sign of her tearing away from me now. No, she was MINE. Finally, in my grasp after all this time.<br/>
No way I would let that big titted bimbo partner of hers show me up now. Though, I’d take that slut as my competition any day, over the perverted boy toy she seemed to have tagging along.</p><p>Oh Lucifer, please tell me she’s not with that fuck.</p><p>I placed my lips upon hers, ready to indulge.</p><p>_</p><p>Ninny<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>She wailed into my mouth. I couldn’t make a coherent thought now. All I did was close my eyes and hope she’d calm down. Her lips felt nice, at least. Part of me wanted to pull away, but the carnal pleasure was too enticing. To this point I had simply laid my features upon hers. But she had yet to cease her sorrows.</p><p>I kissed her back.</p><p>
  <em>‘Not a peep.’</em>
</p><p>But then, in response, I felt her wrap her arms around me.</p><p>Shit. Can’t back out now.</p><p>_</p><p>Noel<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>He finally separated from me. Bout time.</p><p>“Well my Noel-chan, I hope to see you again soon!” he yelled as he ran the other way.</p><p>I always disliked that prefix. It was so overused. As if everyone you gave it to was equally important. It was bullshit.<br/>
I NEVER believed in such trite nonsense. It was like those girls in America who call each other “girlfriends”.</p><p>“You GO, Girl!”</p><p>
  <em>‘Yeah, you gooooo the fuck away, you fucking poser.’</em>
</p><p>If she really was your girlfriend as you claim, you wouldn’t be appalled by her coming-out party.</p><p>Yeah, I’m superior, what of it? You know you probably heard it from Ninny, but…<br/>
_</p><p><em>‘I can see you right now, laying in bed. Reading this with some expectation, some bored look in your eye. Indiscernible, even. Think your hot shit, huh? Maybe you are. Maybe, you aren’t. NOW, now…calm down. You'll get an answer. Eventually.’</em><br/>
_</p><p>“Aiyyaa!”</p><p>I heard a scream. A woman. “Crying?”</p><p>Odd. It came from the window I was theorizing about earlier. As if, per chance, Ninny was there. Did she see us? Knowing her, she definitely misinterpreted, if she did. Though, I suppose anyone would.</p><p>I headed towards the second floor.</p><p>_</p><p>Ninny<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>It was to say the least, well… a damnable situation. I looked over, the clingy harlequin still lost in the supple warmness as I looked over to the door to see Niiha, standing there.</p><p>I was so used to seeing her stoic face, ever controlled, ever blank.<br/>
So to see such emotion.</p><p>It felt wrong.</p><p>I felt from her latent magic a wrath, much like my own temper yet building. But this wrath was many times greater. Such hate and malice, the likes of which I had never seen before.</p><p>
  <em>‘Niiha? What…is going on-‘</em>
</p><p>She turned AND left.</p><p>I was sure I’d be a statistic on the wall in a second. I quickly pushed Macy off, desperately trying to remediate this out-of-control situation.</p><p>I ran out after her.</p><p>_</p><p>Noel<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>Ni assaulting Macy?!</p><p>“What the fuck?! How am I supposed to process that?”</p><p>“Fuck!”</p><p>“FUCK!”</p><p>That was all I could say, I didn’t really like saying it either. It wasn’t substantive. It really meant nothing, when you got right down to it.</p><p>Words alone could not quell the rising anger in my core. It felt if I stayed in that door's entrance any longer, I would’ve splattered Ni on the window.</p><p>Macy too.</p><p>I had to diffuse. I knew how, my feelings ever subdued at all times.<br/>
It worked with Ni’s adorable temper. I was her “straight man” after all.</p><p>Shit. Even now, I’m thinking of her as a succulent treat I long for in my deepest dreams.<br/>
But now, had I sunk my teeth into her, she would be bitter.<br/>
_</p><p>My sweet wine turned to hard Vodka.<br/>
_</p><p>I hurried off, looking for a quiet place, to die.<br/>
I needed silence. The kind one only obtains by absolute sorrow.</p><p>Which, I was slowly gaining. Clarity returned and my pace slowed. The heat I had garnered, subsided, for the time being.</p><p>I saw Ni had glanced at me before, but I’m not sure Macy knew. She was quite preoccupied, obviously.</p><p>I felt envious of her.</p><p>‘Green Leviathan, take hold of ME.’</p><p>There, there.</p><p>The welcoming comfort that coerced me now. Ever since…then, she came to me, in my face of sadness.<br/>
Her gentile face. Sin, comfort me.</p><p>_</p><p>Ninny<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>I searched high and low for her.</p><p>“I really fucked this up now!”</p><p>Niiha saw me, on top, of Macy.</p><p>
  <em>‘I’ve either burned our partnership now or worse, she thinks I raped her.’</em>
</p><p>Such an uncouth thought; I had to expel it. I had to explain.<br/>
_</p><p>I found her on the roof, staring out at the broken heap of stone that was the “Soul Society West Branch”.</p><p>She was sitting on the edge, playing with her hair. There was a hesitant movement to her, as if she was employing a coping mechanism. It made my gut wrench even more.</p><p>I took a step out the stairwell. Ni flinched and looked back before I even made it out.</p><p>I saw no tears, yet she felt she could shatter at any moment.<br/>
No backing out now.</p><p>“Noel, that was…an accident. You see I was in the study and Macy jumped me and fell on top of h-”</p><p>“Don’t. Lie.<br/>
You were still there. It’s not Macy. NO. No, I don’t care about her situation anymore.</p><p>I’m not angry about that.'</p><p>“Well then, what wa-“</p><p>“What did you say to her?”</p><p>“I-I didn’t say any-“</p><p>“Yes, you did.”</p><p>She stared daggers into my eyes. It was scarier than any dragon we had ever faced.<br/>
Yet she was still so composed.</p><p>I, relented.</p><p>“I told her…to “fuck off,” by accident.”</p><p>Niiha softened at this visibly but her demeanor remained the same.</p><p>“Ni. Come here.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Ni? She never called me that before.'</em>
</p><p>“Niiha, asks you to come and sit down with her, now.”</p><p>
  <em>‘Whaaa? How? Those are my thoughts. My mind…is under siege?’</em>
</p><p>“How what? Did I know? Your thoughts are LOUD in my head. Louder than mine, now.”</p><p>“What do you mean, Noel?”</p><p>“Please, call me Niiha. I want to hear you. The honest you. Your lies scare me. They enter me and my mind loses all cognizance. I become death.”</p><p>“Niiha.” There it was. The final acquiescence.</p><p>_</p><p>“Cinderella. I feel ever since her sudden demise, which I still not yet ascertain, I slowly began to hear voices in my head. Voices, not of my own. Murmurs and whispers, barely audible. They all sounded the same at first so I couldn’t make out who they belonged to. Yet as they went on, they became louder and louder. But then when we recruited Macy as a Dragonclad assist, I heard you say, “Now I have to babysit two of them.” But your mouth never moved. Ever since, I’ve been able to hear your thoughts clearly as long as you were near. Others were quieter and non-descript, but your voice comes in clear in my mind. And what a voice it is.”</p><p>“Noel, I-“</p><p>“You might as well give up speaking to me. Your mind speaks much clearer.”</p><p>_</p><p>Noel<br/>
_</p><p> </p><p>She looked at me, stunned.</p><p>For the first time, her flabbergasted appearance matched what I heard her say.</p><p>
  <em>‘Niiha can read my mind? How the fuck-‘</em>
</p><p>“I don’t know myself. Honestly, I’d rather not have this power. It’s invasive and unscrupulous. I feel the grips of emotion and sin in a painful way, the feelings tearing me apart. My magic feels untenable. I don’t know why. But, there are two things I need from you. Just two things I need to hear, from you. Not your thoughts. You.”</p><p>“Wha-what is it, Noel?”</p><p>She stood there, shaken by the revelation.</p><p>“I need to know…could you ever love, Macy?”</p><p>_</p><p>Ninny<br/>
_</p><p>
  <em>‘Whaaa?’</em>
</p><p>I couldn’t formulate a response, mind or mouth.</p><p>So I let instinct take over.</p><p>“M-aybe…”</p><p>“Maybe?”</p><p>“Yeah, maybe.”</p><p>We were only a foot apart now.</p><p>
  <em>‘I felt I could jump on her too. Just to-‘</em>
</p><p>“Jump on me? Like you did with Macy?”</p><p>Shit. Gotta be honest now.</p><p>“No. I was just-just. Look, that truly was unintentional. She was making a hell of a racket and “that” was the only way I felt I could stop her. I didn’t mean for it to go that far.”</p><p>“Where would it have gone next, had I not come in?”</p><p>“Nowhere. I wouldn’t have let it.”</p><p>“…I just have one more question.”</p><p>“Yes?”</p><p>“Would you kiss me now, if I started crying too?”<br/>
_</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0003"><h2>3. The First of Turning</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Noel</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">I heard her thoughts but they were mere fractions of her mind, dancing randomly. They ranged from confusion to elation to horror. Oh, how I hated this. It would be so much easier if she just rejected me out right.</p><p class="p1">That way, I could ignore her too, like all the rest. Sure, the melancholy would overtake me at first but I would make it through.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘Conceal, don’t feel.’</em>
</p><p class="p1">I loathed the idea and yet it was digestible all the same.</p><p class="p1">I looked at her stuttering face and closed my eyes, trying the hardest I could to blackout her thoughts and just hear her speak.</p><p class="p1">Finally she gave a jilted answer, one so quiet I had to put an inordinate amount of effort to even hear her.</p><p class="p1">“I, get jealous too, you know.”</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘What? What am I supposed to say to that?’</em>
</p><p class="p1">I just let instincts take over, like she did 24/7.</p><p class="p1">“You know, you spying on me is pretty creepy, Ni. I’m not in love with Balgo, if that’s what you want to know. You really should stay out of out of my personal affairs. I guess that’s pretty you, though.”</p><p class="p1">Seeing her fuming, I felt the bile she was about to spew. It still turned me on though.</p><p class="p1">“What the fuck?! First you confess to me then you mouth off?! Bitch, NIIHA. Always above everyone. Fucking typical.”</p><p class="p1">
  <em>’She said my nickname. Awwww…’</em>
</p><p class="p1">I had to suppress the wiggle my hips pleaded to make. To entice her to me. My fall to sweet Hell.</p><p class="p1">“I’m not above anyone. And who said I confessed, as well? I simply asked a question.”</p><p class="p1">She seemed to be fit to bursting, looking for a response vile enough to fit her.</p><p class="p1">I continued, nonchalant now, enjoying her predicament.</p><p class="p1">“And, I have yet to receive an answer, as usual. You know, I suppose, since you’re so clingy with me, you’d confess to me first.</p><p class="p1">Though, I suppose in your case, you’d molest me first.”</p><p class="p1">“Eugh! Why did I even come up here?! I shoulda known you’d be the same cu-, I-I-I CAN’T BELIEVE YOU!”</p><p class="p1">She stopped herself, before that. Not that it would cross me; i felt no harm from her epithets. Yet, her hesitation warmed me,</p><p class="p1">it showed this could be…mutual.</p><p class="p1">Her frazzled appearance razz-led me so. I felt my ample chest tighten in my shirt. Her tantrum, ah so luxurious this feeling.</p><p class="p1">I finished her thought.</p><p class="p1">“But I’m YOUR “cunt,” aren’t I? You wouldn’t trade me for anyone, not even the Sabers.”</p><p class="p1">I stood up, approaching her with slowly, methodically, my libido emanating in my sultry moves.</p><p class="p1">I felt “her” presence again.</p><p class="p1">She grimaced bit, face taken in rich crimson.</p><p class="p1">“Beautiful now, Ni. I know your thoughts whether I want to or not now.”</p><p class="p1">I circled behind her, caressing her throat and chest.</p><p class="p1">Suffice it to say, she did not see that coming.</p><p class="p1">“AHHHGH!”</p><p class="p1">“Ni, don’t tarry now. Know Lucifer would approve of our consummation.”</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">Ninny</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">“THEEEE FUUUCK?!!!”</p><p class="p1">What was Niiha talking about? Consummation? Lucifer? The fuck?</p><p class="p1">“Niiha, I’m sorry. I’ll just leave. I won’t bothe-“</p><p class="p1">“Oh, nooo. You aren’t going aaanywhere.”</p><p class="p1">She held me tighter and tighter. I tried to pry her off from my back, to no avail. Her tits pressed into me.</p><p class="p1">I was trapped in her lustful embrace.</p><p class="p1">“Nii, I can’t hold back any longer.”</p><p class="p1">“THE FUCK IS YOUR DEAL, NIIHA?!!!”</p><p class="p1">I looked down to my pipe as her thigh brushed between my legs, just within reach without bending down.</p><p class="p1">I lamented this decision but I had to.</p><p class="p1">“Niiha, I know this isn’t you. I’m so sorry in advance.”</p><p class="p1">Quickly, I grabbed hold of the handle squeezing the trigger.</p><p class="p1">Exhaled and then…</p><p class="p1">“Magic Number 85: Rising Serpent!”</p><p class="p1">The gust shot out bullet speed, sending us both skyward. And subsequently plummeting down.</p><p class="p1">Now, I was used to falling from the sky, but honestly; Niiha was always was on her game, catching me.</p><p class="p1">Not so much when I knocked her out from the blast. TIme slowed down as I saw the buildings come back into view, sideways.</p><p class="p1">And then, it hit.</p><p class="p1">The impact was sudden and blunt. I saw my body reel from the impact. I could not process anything</p><p class="p1">other than excruciating pain.</p><p class="p1">After animate, I looked over to where Niiha landed. She wasn’t moving, but her voluptuous chest rose and fell; she had absorbed the blast.</p><p class="p1">I just laid there and closed my eyes slowly.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">Darkness took me.</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">Macy</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">I heard her bolt out with no indication of why.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘Weren’t we finally bonding together? After all this time with our careers entwining, I was ready for the full monty. Why wasn’t she?’</em>
</p><p class="p1">“After all the things I’ve done for you, Ninny!” I yelled in vain.</p><p class="p1">There was no sign of a reply ever gracing me. How alone this abandonment felt. When I had been so close. This was the worse kind of rejection.</p><p class="p1">I gathered myself and hurried off. I wanted desperately for her to at least tell me.</p><p class="p1">“We don’t have to go all the way. We don’t have to go far at all! It could just be light kisses and touches! Promise!”</p><p class="p1">*GASP*</p><p class="p1">“…I-I scared her away. Maybe it was a misunderstanding. She took my advances and I made her uncomfortable.”</p><p class="p1">“OOOooooooh! I’m SOOOOOO STUUUPID!”</p><p class="p1">“It’s all my fault!”</p><p class="p1">I beat my head with my fists, chastising my libido.</p><p class="p1">“She’ll never speak to me again! I’m finished! Now she’ll definitely go with the big-titted harlot! I’ll always lie awake in bed, with nightmares of their</p><p class="p1">lovemaking. When I’m called onto missions, they’ll probably share her broom while I’ll have to be with that pervert!…Ohhhh, who am I kidding?</p><p class="p1">I’LL be branded the pervert after this!”</p><p class="p1">*BRAGHCRL*</p><p class="p1">My turmoil was interrupted by a sudden bang.</p><p class="p1">“It sounded like it came from the roof. Should I go in-vestigate?” I stuttered out.</p><p class="p1">Had they been topside before me, I couldn’t possibly cope with Ninny’s scorn for me.</p><p class="p1">“I had better avoid it. I’ll just be in the way, anyway.”</p><p class="p1">I heard steps rapidly approaching. I feared the pervert was near.</p><p class="p1">“Oh please no. Not him.” I laid in defeat, my legs catatonic.</p><p class="p1">To my healthy surprise, it was Otsushi. He looked worried.</p><p class="p1">“What’s wrong?” I said, as if he could understand me.</p><p class="p1">He simply continued down the corridor, moving as fast as his tiny body would let him.</p><p class="p1">He turned in the direction of the stairwell.</p><p class="p1">I rose, my fatigue settling.</p><p class="p1">I followed him cautiously.</p><p class="p1">“The rooftop? What the-“</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">…</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">My god. My Ninny.</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0004"><h2>4. A New Development</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p class="p1">Ninny</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">I awoke to a familiar pink blur and the glare of a ceiling fixture. Groggy, I turned over in defiance only to meet a mess of black hair and a white hairpin. Realizing Niiha was right the fuck next to me, breathing softly through her dark tresses, I jumped the fuck up in surprise.</p><p class="p1">“THE FUCK?!”</p><p class="p1">“What’s Niiha doing…WHA? WHAT AM I DOING IN HER GODDAMN BED?!”</p><p class="p1">The pink blur shimmered into Macy’s worried form.</p><p class="p1">“Believe me, Ninny-chan, I don’t like this anymore than you. It’s just- I found you passed out on the roof.”</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">Macy</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘Why did she just call her, Niiha?’</em>
</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">Ninny</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">I looked around and saw Balgo with Otsushi. It seemed like it had only been an hour or so since, as the evening sun still shone through the bedroom window. Niiha’s room was always very formal and clean. Sure, she was still “girly,” or as girly Niiha could be, but the design felt so daunting; as if I wasn’t good enough to be placed inside.</p><p class="p1">Her silk sheets clung to me; reminding me of her earlier attack.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘Was that - what, was that? It couldn’t be her. I’ve NEVER seen her act like that.’</em>
</p><p class="p1">Of all the times I’ve come to her rescue, or put my chin on her shoulder, or had been saved from falling to death, never once has she shown such an intimate reaction. It didn’t see real to me.</p><p class="p1">I wanted so desperately to ask her myself, to plead for the Niiha I knew and…<em>’lov-‘</em></p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘Hey, she can’t hear my thoughts now. I think, at least. I hope so; I can be honest with just myself then.</em>
</p><p class="p1">I laid back down, contemplating.</p><p class="p1">Then, her door opened.</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">Balgo</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">This was all too concerning. Ninny-san had no idea where she was, and my Noel-chan.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘My sweet Noel-chan! What had happened?!’</em>
</p><p class="p1">I had came in as soon as Otsushi told me and had seen Macy lay the two next to each other. I suppose she was just trying to figure out what to do next since I heard they were both unconscious on the roof.</p><p class="p1">Seems even she couldn’t just leave My Noel alone.</p><p class="p1">That I had not had the foresight to know My Noel was in danger.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘I should’ve been there for her!’</em>
</p><p class="p1">All I could do was sit there, watching Macy-san fret over Ninny-san endlessly.</p><p class="p1">*sigh*</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘If only I rescued My Noel-‘</em>
</p><p class="p1">My thoughts were interrupted by the bedroom doors abrupt opening.</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">In stepped that grizzled gentleman from before. He was hunched over, with his hands behind his back.</p><p class="p1">As he came in towards the bed, he looked at My Noel.</p><p class="p1">“Hmm. Seems to be Dragonborne mutation,” he said nonchalantly.</p><p class="p1">“Whaaat?! What does that mean?” I exclaimed.</p><p class="p1">“Look here.”</p><p class="p1">He pointed at the nape of her neck; there was a small marking of a cross scar on it.</p><p class="p1">Macy-san glanced at it for only as second before saying, “Dragonborne? Would that be…from that elephant dragon a couple days ago?”</p><p class="p1">“No. It was the Cinderella attack. They were in contact with the Dragon’s projectiles which must’ve fused with them after the explosion. That was also the reason your sword manifested Balgo. Not that any of that mattered.”</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘Wait, how did he know this?’</em>
</p><p class="p1">Macy piped up suddenly, “But…if it happened to Noel-san, did it happen to Ninny as well? Is she infected as well?”</p><p class="p1">Her face was aghast with the thought.</p><p class="p1">“Infected? No, this isn’t an infection. Rather, this is a change in her physiology. Cinderella’s mutation caused her to be incredibly contagious and the closer in contact one had been with her protrusions the more chance of mutation,” he explained.</p><p class="p1">His demeanor was so calm and collected as if he’d seen this a thousand times before.</p><p class="p1">I looked over at Ninny-san and saw her trembling.</p><p class="p1">I had never seen her this vulnerable before.</p><p class="p1">Her eyes easily teared up at this information and it seemed she would cry them out if not for an intervention.</p><p class="p1">I attempted, against my better judgment to help her through.</p><p class="p1">As I reached out, I thought, <em>‘She’s probably kill me for this but I can’t leave her distraught. It just doesn’t sit right by me.’</em></p><p class="p1">It was then that I saw My Noel rides and grab hold of Ninny-san. She leaned in and kissed her full on the mouth.</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">Ninny</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">I couldn’t believe this. We were on the path to the elites of the Witch Corp! This was ridiculous!</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘And the fact she and I were infected together. Honestly, I didn’t know how to cope with that. I suppose it would be fine, she and I were partners after all. But what could my manifestation be? Would I be able to even work anymore?</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>We had known each other for 4 years now and yet it seemed we were farther and farther apart.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Should I just say it? That I love her so that she isn’t traumatized by this anymore? Can I say it? Is is even true?</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>…who am I kidding? I’ve pined for you since we met in high school. I may talk a big game but you know I’ll always have a soft spot for you. You’re the only one who gets me. Who truly understands me. All my adoring fans? They don’t know who I am. Who I REALLY am.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>But now, who am I? You’re taken by this, “Lucifer” or whatever, and I can’t even speak clearly.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>We’re introduced to the biggest destructive force we’ve ever seen and then it’s annihilated in an instant from fuck knows where.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>How are we supposed to deal with this? I’ve trained harder than ever for these years with you and you pushed me harder everyday. My drive stems from you. You emanated this aura of superiority, like nothing could touch you.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>Even though we both know that isn’t you. You’re just as weak and defenseless as I am. That’s why we’re a team. That’s why I can’t deal with you like this. And you know it.</em>
</p><p class="p1">
  <em>That’s why i want to join the Sabers. For you.</em>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">
  <em>My devil, please come back to m-‘</em>
</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">My mind was rendered silent in an instant.</p><p class="p1">I was beyond the capacity for rational thought.</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">Macy</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘NO,NO,NOOO!!! She stole Ninny from me, after all! I should’ve just left her out on the pavement!’</em>
</p><p class="p1">I fumed ready to tear off this “mutants” throat for defiling my love.</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">Balgo</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">I couldn’t believe it. This “thing,” My Noel was inflicted with.</p><p class="p1">
  <em>‘How dare it do such horrible things to these two!’</em>
</p><p class="p1">_</p><p class="p1">I separated from her lovely lips.</p><p class="p2"> </p><p class="p1">“Finally, I heard the answer I was looking for.</p><p class="p1">_</p>
  </div></div>
<a name="section0005"><h2>5. Distance</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Summary for the Chapter:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
            <p>We get some backstory here and I wanted to go hard so this may be a bit triggering here. Know the story is going to be a bit darker form here on out.</p>
          </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>_</p><p>Ninny</p><p>_</p><p>She released me, finally. She had such a refreshed look on her face. </p><p>“Now, we’re even,” she said . At that she passed out.</p><p>I was at a loss for words. Kissing and kissed twice in one day. Honestly, I didn’t know how to process ANY of this.</p><p>I looked around and everyone was aghast, cept the oldman.</p><p>I decided to just lay down and rest again. This headache wasn’t worth the rest of the day.</p><p>_</p><p>Macy</p><p>_</p><p>The days after were awkward to say the least. A week before Halloween too. Ninny and Noel barely spoke on routine dragon calls and none of the elites were present on any of these excursions.</p><p>When they flew together, I would always take Ninny’s broomside and Balgo, Noel’s. </p><p>But she wouldn’t speak or even look at him, nor me for that matter. Ninny would, but it was forlorn. I was worried for my sweet.</p><p>
  <em> ‘Noel has been her partner for so long, to be in love with her...though I suppose my love is no different. Perhaps she is not my enemy or at the very least we could see eye to eye.’ </em>
</p><p>The days continued, each one more trying than the last. They never batted an eye at each other. Since Noel can read our minds and Ninny may yet have a manifestation as well, I understood their beginning silence...BUT NOT FOR THIS LONG!</p><p>That creep Balgo was even concerned. He came into the office one time and asked me:</p><p>“What do you think we should do? I can’t stand it anymore! My Noel, she refuses to even spare me a glance, I can’t take this heartache.”</p><p>This annoyed me. Yes, he was right but I never cared for his incessant whining.</p><p>“Yeah, well how do you think I feel?! Ninny-chan won’t speak to me either! Life without her...isn’t worth living!” </p><p>This was getting ridiculous. They couldn’t make up from this? Really? It felt so trivial. Then, an idea.</p><p>“Hey, tomorrow is Halloween, right?”</p><p>“Yeah, what of it? Ya gonna “scare em” back together?”</p><p>Such a simpleton, I swear. I continued.</p><p>“It’s an important day for witches. Why don’t we both try to reach out to our respective crush and talk them into at the very least, talking again?’</p><p>He looked perturbed but I really didn’t care. I was gonna get my honey back, dammit!</p><p>_</p><p>Ninny</p><p>_</p><p>I woke again. <em>‘God, it feels neverending.’</em> </p><p>Noel now no longer beside me, I felt a pang in my chest. </p><p>“Must be the fall again,” yet, it felt much more dull than before. Like that of an emotionally driven bodily reaction rather than a physical one. I began pondering the events that had now transpired. Noel was now...possessed, it seemed?</p><p>
  <em> ‘How do I know I won’t be next? I feel like she isn’t even here anymore. As if Noel no longer exists. Or is it that I was wrong? That all this time had she been submissive  and closeted? Am I simply that unapproachable?’ </em>
</p><p>_</p><p>The days after, we didn’t speak.</p><p>When called on disturbances, we split up.</p><p>Macy went with me and Balgo with her.</p><p>If we met at the same time, I’d investigate alone and she’d talk to the human parties involved. It was actually more efficient this way and our pay was double what it was before.</p><p>I took a couple low-tier dragons, literally zero effort and one was so weak we turned in into Rehabilitations.</p><p>It was cute too, like Otsushi.</p><p>I sighed, coming back from the office.</p><p>This was the loneliest I felt in years.</p><p>Heeh…</p><p>
  <em> ‘This is too much.’ </em>
</p><p>_</p><p>Omniscient</p><p>_</p><p>
  <em>8 years ago. Ninny was a delinquent, always getting into worse and worser trouble.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She didn’t care; orphaned after birth her foster tried best to comfort her.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“She’s just a child; they can’t be this harsh on her for acting out.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I know deary, I know. It’s just, she won’t speak to her counselor, her teachers, or her classmates.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She’d come home, stone faced. Eyes black.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Ello’ Ninny, did you make any new friends today?” the foster mother would say.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Shut up, whore. You’re not my real mum.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>_</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It just felt cruel. She doesn’t know what she’s saying.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They were the fourth home she was sent to.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Well, I don’t know why you would complain about the orphan you chose to adopt,” the caretaker said.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Joramont Price.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He was a detestable man, showing no empathy for these children he had dominion over.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“If you don’t want them, they've already been through more than 6 homes. We can’t afford it anymore.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He simply shooed them out of his estate; the bastard.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>They attempted to find her mother shortly afterward.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Most searches led to nothing speculation and dead ends.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>The Spangcole name was unknown in London.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Then, her foster father was laid off.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Job Centre was unhelpful in finding new employment for him, the steel industry in shambles.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Thatcherism spread and eclipsed many families who wished to take children in.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Many orphans like her were unfairly disenfranchised during this time.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But Ninny continued on, despite these misgivings.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>_</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I heard her last night, Honey. She cries herself to sleep, I’m afraid, truly.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s this whole...damned thing! NO ONE’S GONNA RECOVER FROM THIS BULLSHIT! I ain’t coming back, neither.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What...do you mean by that?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Deary, I can’t support us anymore. I love her, but there’s nothing we can do anymore. We have to give her up to services. It’s not a discussion.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“NO! No, you- We’ll find a way! Don’t just...give up on her? Don’t give up...on me!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“You know I’d never give up on you!”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“But, you will leave her, to rot away in that gutter of a system?! With no one to ever sustain her?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“It’s the ONLY way.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>_</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Not too long afterward, Ninny was reclaimed by Child Services.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>There, they did nothing to help her cope, only giving the barest necessities they were required by law to provide.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>But Ninny had grown all the while and found more information on her real mother.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“What do you want, child?” Price demanded as Ninny stormed into his office.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Send me here,” Ninny replied, bluntly.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>She slammed a pamphlet of a local boarding school on the surface on his desk.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hah! And why would I do that?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He pushed it off, smug and menacing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Because, that’s where my mother went.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He smirked.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“So, you found her, eh? Well, I commend you. But, what will you do when you find her?”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>Now it was her turn to play boss.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“I’m gonna find out what I am. And then, I’m coming back, for you.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He burst out laughing.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>“Hahaha! Very well then. I hope to see you burn in Hell. Do your worst bitch.”</em>
</p><p>
  <em>He okayed the request immediately.</em>
</p><p>
  <em>_</em>
</p>
  </div></div>
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